“Alice is having a conniption over how late we are. It’s not my fault she gets everywhere twenty minutes early,” my new friend grumbled, as I struggled to keep up with her.
As soon as we neared the bar, Alice, a petite blonde, was marching straight toward us. “Took you two long enough,” she scolded, her phone clutched in her right hand, which was currently painted with a perfect ballerina-pink French manicure.
Charlotte pointed in my direction, throwing me under the proverbial bus. “It’s not my fault. Millie didn’t like her outfit so I had to convince her for like, twenty minutes, she should wear it.”
“What’s wrong with your outfit?” Alice posed, squinching up her upturned button nose as she gave me a thorough once over. “I think you look great.”
I smiled at her genuine confusion. “Nothing, I’m just not used to being so exposed.”
Alice waved away my concern. “If I had your breasts and curves, I’d be exposed all day and night, girlfriend.”
I let out a pent-up breath and stood a little taller at her compliment. “Thanks. I’m Millie, by the way,” I introduced myself, as this was the first time the two of us had ever met.
“Alice,” the petite blonde returned, shaking my hand forcefully like we were in the midst of an important business deal. “Good to finally meet you. Charlotte keeps saying Millie this and Millie that every time she talks about doing something fun. I simply had to meet you.”
I was flattered that my new friend spoke so highly about me. Blushing, I smiled and tucked some of my thick, blown out, brown hair nervously behind my ear.
“We can talk inside the bar,” Charlotte told us, corralling us toward the growing line. “I want to get inside before they fill up. It happens fast on Thursday nights.”
Luckily, we managed to get into the club without too much trouble. My heart had nearly thumped out of my chest when the bouncer had eyed me closely while studying my ID. However, before I could blurt out anything condemning, he ushered me and my two friends in with a small smile. WhereCharlotte and I were still underage, Alice was actually twenty-one, so her license was the real deal and no cause for concern.
“It’s been a tough week,” Alice shouted over the blaring music. “I need a drink ASAP! What does everyone want? The first round is on me.”
Both Charlotte and I ordered margaritas and Alice strolled over to the bar to place our orders. As we waited, I could feel the eyes of several men in the room crawling over me. I’d never been one for attention of any sort, least of all, attention from leering male strangers.
Taking a moment to look up from her phone, Charlotte jerked her chin in the direction of a group of guys who looked like they were in their early thirties. “The guy in the red shirt is fucking hot! I hope he comes over here and offers us a drink. He keeps glancing our way.”
Red shirt guy was good looking. That was true. But there was just something about the man that instantly made me a little leery. Like there was a polluted aura about him that just didn’t sit well with me. I know that’s ridiculous, declaring someone weird after a single glance, but it was how I felt. I’d learned long ago to trust my gut, and my gut was saying he was a creep. End of story.
Not that it mattered what I thought. Charlotte liked the guy, and he wasn’t asking me to marry him or anything. It was just an observation, although one I couldn’t shake.
I glanced in Alice’s direction and saw she was flirting pretty heavily with the bartender. I guess I know why we’d picked Maverick’s over all the closer bar choices. The pretty blond was clearly into him. She was practically leaning over the bar top exposing as much cleavage as she could marshal. It waspretty impressive actually. By the look on the bartender’s face, he thought so too.
“Let’s go help Alice with the drinks,” I suggested to Charlotte, when I saw the tiny woman struggling to carry them all by herself.
When she saw us coming, Alice offloaded her icy burden into our outstretched hands.
“Garrett gave us all doubles for free,” she said with a wide grin and a wink. “I think I’m going to owe him a pretty substantial thank you at the end of the night.”
“Works for me,” Charlotte quipped. “Keep the double shots coming!”
The two women broke out into a fit of giggles, and I couldn’t help but smile as I sipped my cocktail. Damn! She wasn’t kidding. These strawberry margaritas were strong. I’d better go slow. The last thing I needed to do was get sloshed and make a fool of myself in front of my new friends.
“I love this song!” Alice gushed. “Let’s go dance. I’m ready to shake my ass and tease some fuckboys.”
Turning toward the parquet floor in the corner of the room, we obediently followed Alice to where many others were already gathered and gyrating together en masse. Drinks in hand, we merged with the crowd and began to move alongside them.
Not going to lie, I loved to dance. I didn’t feel comfortable doing it in a room full of strangers, but after about half my drink, some of the fear and most of my inhibitions melted away.
By the end of my second drink, I was feeling no pain. I had to pee, so I told my friends I’d be right back and tossed my empty cup into the trash on the way there. In a stroke of incredible luck, there was almost no line, and I was able to get in and out of the bathroom in under ten minutes.
Heading back to the dancefloor, I was stopped by the guy in the red shirt that Charlotte had been crushing on earlier. Seemingly materializing out of nowhere, he physically blocked my path with his muscular body while I was focusing on my friends.
To further secure me, his hand snaked out around my waist and his gaze fell about eight inches below my eyeline. “Need a refill, gorgeous?”
Startled, I tried to pull away, but his grip was strong. “Um, who, me? No, I’m good. Thanks.”
“You sure? I’d love to buy you a drink. I saw you earlier and I told my friends I wasn’t going home without your number. I’ve been watching you ever since. That dress looks fire on your body, by the way,” Red Shirt replied in what he truly believed was a compliment but was reading as hella predatory.
